Tow truck crashes into traffic

October 19, 2010

One car crash turned into two Tuesday after a faulty emergency brake caused a tow truck to roll backwards into a line of traffic.
A vehicle driving southbound on U.S. 321 Business about 3:30 p.m. attempted to make a left turn onto Prison Camp Road. The vehicle pulled out in front of another vehicle, which was heading northbound on U.S. 321 Business, said Lt. Randy Frye with the Maiden Fire Department.
The vehicles collided, causing heavy damage to the cars. The drivers of the vehicles were uninjured and refused medical treatment at the scene of the crash, Frye said.
A tow truck arrived on the scene to remove one of the vehicles involved in the collision. The driver of the tow truck engaged the emergency brake, Frye said, but the brake was faulty. The truck started to roll backward toward a line of vehicles at a standstill on U.S. 321 Business.
Dustin Weaver, who was sitting in a vehicle near the parked tow truck, saw the truck start to roll backwards. He jumped out of his vehicle and ran toward the truck in an attempt to stop it.
"I thought someone was in it backing up at first," Weaver said of the rolling tow truck. "I knew it was coming for the cars."
Weaver reached the tow truck and had his foot poised over the brake when the tow truck struck a Chevrolet Suburban.
The driver of the Suburban was uninjured and refused medical treatment.
Catawba County EMS and Maiden Rescue assisted with the incidents.